Local Knowledge.

This post might actually be useful.

Thought I would write a quick post about Internet access while traveling through Mexico and Central America.

When we first took on on this trip last May, disconnecting from phone/email/web/twitter/facebook…was a bit of a welcome relief. Nice little break from all that crap.

We still would sniff around for the occasional free Wifi connection or in some case, not free or really all that well secured. But now that we’ve been traveling for almost a year now. Access to reliable internet is nice to have and to be honest so god damn useful. So how do we do it?

I’ll not cover access in the states, that’s a given. I’m gonna talk about access in Mexico and Central America.

This is not all inclusive, it’s what I have used and know about personally.

Mexico:
We got a “Banda Ancha” USB stick from TelCel(www.telcel.com). When we were there it cost $28usd for 5GB of data that had to be used up within 30 days. You had to use it or lose it.

Getting a Banda Ancha in Mexico is simple. Go to just about any modest sized town and go to a TelCel store. They seemed to be everywhere. Even some small towns will have an CyberCafe (internet cafe) that usually sells them as well.

The Banda Ancha is really just a USB stick, similar to a large thumbdrive with a SIM card stuffed in it. So you are using 3G or 4G cell towers for web access. So connection is pretty much everywhere.

At the TelCel store they will ask if you have a Mac or PC and if it is a PC they will ask what OS. They have to get you the right USB stick. Most Windows versions are supported. At the time I got mine, I was running Windows 8.1(almost as bad as Windows ME). They said it was not supported, but I ignored them and it ran fine for me.

The cost of the USB stick and simcard is typically around $25usd(spring 2014). With that you usually get 1 to 1.5GB of free data at 3G speeds, depending on the promotion at the time. I also found that randomly I’d get a text from TelCel with free offers like “free internet access this weekend” or “Navigate Facebook Free”.

When your data us used up, simply go to www.telcel.com, create an account and login. You pick a new data plan and continue on. I got the biggest package they offered for prepaid which was 5GB for 30 days at roughly $28usd. You can also go to any TelCel store and recharge (recargar) them there.

The process in Central America is roughly the same. Except you have more choices and it’s a little cheaper and faster. I’ll repeat that since that is not a sentence you normally read. You have more choices and it’s a little cheaper and faster.

The three companies I know of are Claro, Digicel, and Tigo. I can only tell you about Claro, since that is the company we use. The main reason we went with Claro is that the SIMcard will work here in El Salvador and in Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, and a number of other S. American countries. It will not work in Costa Rica. They have their own thing going on there apparently.

The process is the basically the same. Find a store, get a pre-paid (prepago) account set up. Some people will tell you that you have to have your Passport with you to set this up, but we used our Washington State drivers license with no problem. All they seem to want is an official looking document number to put on their application forms.

As you will find out, as long as you can fill out the full form (no matter if the info is correct or not) they are happy. This seems to apply to anything, from SIM cards to clearing customs. Just fill in the blanks and move along *STAMP STAMP STAMP* Gracias, Buenas Dias.

The initial cost for the USB stick was $25usd which included 5GB of 4G data for 15 days. After that it is $28 dollars for 8GB of data for 30 days at 4G speeds. I had to get creative to use up 5gb of data in 2 weeks. Streaming movies, skype, craploads of email, general websurfing downloading movies, it’s all nice and fast.

This random picture of Space Jesus guarding a bus is for you to enjoy because I have data to spare.